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Stopping Illegal Fishery

Submerged GPS tracking device.
  (+6, -4)
(+6, -4)
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against]

Illegal fishery is a serious global problem, one of the main obstacles in reaching sustainable fisheries. Worth about$6b per year, Illegal fishing represents a major loss of revenue from some of the poorest countries in the world where dependency on fisheries for food, livelihoods and revenues is high. It also puts unsustainable pressure on fish stocks, marine wildlife and habitats, treaten labour standards and distorts markets.

Some nations has a body of water which is illegal for ANYONE to fish in but many criminals still fish in these areas and to fight this illegal activity a high tech gadget could become the solution. With the advancement of GPS technology it has become easier to track objects. My "new invention" would be to put a simple GPS in an object that would be submerged about halfway down from the surface of the lake or on the lake bed.

Once the illegal fisher goes across the lake with nets he/she will catch fish and the GPS devices, once it becomes apparent that GPS are moving at speeds of a boat or faster than the current, police will be dispatched to catch the criminal. :D

mlee743, Apr 02 2008

New software monitors fishing boats http://www.abc.net....4/09/08/1194395.htm
"This software means that an operator can look at exactly what a boat is doing..." [Ander, Apr 03 2008]


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Annotation:







       How does the device discern the difference between a legal and an illegal net?
Texticle, Apr 02 2008
  

       nations make it illegal for ANYONE to fish in certain areas. so the machine doesn't need to be able discriminate from legal or illegal b/c they are ALL illegal.
mlee743, Apr 02 2008
  

       I'm guessing that licensed fishing crews would get digitally signed RFID tags for their nets?
Spacecoyote, Apr 02 2008
  

       You're going to have to go some on the sensitivity of those GPS receivers - water is just about the strongest attenuator of GPS frequencies there is. [-]
coprocephalous, Apr 02 2008
  

       It only needs to be detected after it gets out of the water. Gee you guys don't read do you.
zeno, Apr 02 2008
  

       Don't raise silly little practical problems like that, I think this is a great idea. [+]
Germanicus, Apr 02 2008
  

       //It only needs to be detected after it gets out of the water. Gee you guys don't read do you//
So then the trawlermen would simply turn their nets into huge Faraday cages.
Besides, a //simple GPS// would only detect its position, not transmit it to a remote enforcement agency.
coprocephalous, Apr 02 2008
  

       Also, GPS units are expensive, they aren't something you just dump into lakes.
Spacecoyote, Apr 02 2008
  

       Snag; the first time that an illegal trawler is caught like this, the prosecution will have to disclose the source of their evidence in open court, which no doubt will receive the usual press coverage.   

       The next day, every illegal trawler will have a bloke with a big hammer standing by the net as it's hauled in, ready to smash anything that looks even vaguely suspicious...........
8th of 7, Apr 02 2008
  

       Make the transmitter look like a fish, then. It only has to look convincing enough to not stand out in the thousand fish you've just netted.   

       [+]
Srimech, Apr 02 2008
  

       Then a poor little shark, after having a tasty snack, swims a bit and surfaces only to find he is surrounded by a convoy of police speedboats.
Ling, Apr 02 2008
  

       Rather than putting it in the sea, couldn't you produce some sort of on-board tachograph, like the ones that lorry drivers have to try and fiddle?
calum, Apr 02 2008
  

       ling //Then a poor little shark, after having a tasty snack...// -Sharks have a sense organ under their nose which can sense small electrical activity of live animals(all lving things have electrical activity) so they will be able to distinguish between the a living electrical current and a machine's. -Most of these will be released into lakes and bays where sharks active.   

       coprocephalous //would only detect its position, not transmit it to a remote enforcement agency...water is the strongest attenuator of GPS frequencies// -Many companies now have a GPS which shows the velocity/location, and it is not hard at all to develope a program which would relay this information to an inforcement agency. -Submarines have GPS units in them and they work fine.   

       spacecoyote //GPS are expensive// GPS come as cheap as 30 dollars to make, and government give projects like this to the lowest bidding company. Which would w/o doubt bring the price down.
mlee743, Apr 02 2008
  

       //Many companies now have a GPS which shows the velocity/location, and it is not hard at all to develope a program which would relay this information to an inforcement agency.//
Bzzzzt - is the wrong answer.
I have several small GPS receivers, and I can guarantee that no amount of program development will make them into transmitters.
For that, you'd need hardware, not just software.
coprocephalous, Apr 02 2008
  

       // poor little shark //   

       Errr, are you by any chance referring to the four metre long ruthless aquatic predator with huge bitey teeth ? Yes, they're small when they're immature, but they grow big, very big, by killing and eating lots of other marine life. All part of the wonder of the ecosystem, but "poor little shark" just doesn't quite fit.
8th of 7, Apr 02 2008
  

       Spacecoyote //I can guarantee that no amount of program development will make them into transmitters.// I'm a high schooler and even I(bolded) know that to find a velocity only 2 information is needed: TIME and DISTANCE traveled. Now think about this alittle, take the location at two different times interval(distance) divid it by the time, and now you have the velocity.
mlee743, Apr 02 2008
  

       //and now you have the velocity.//
Got it in one - *you* have the velocity, no-one else has.
coprocephalous, Apr 02 2008
  

       -coprocephalous Hmm I'm not a computer engineer so I would not be a qualified individual, but I'm very sure that relaying information like this would be easy as sending an e-mail.
mlee743, Apr 02 2008
  

       //I'm very sure that relaying information like this would be easy as sending an e-mail.//
Yes (at last), that's right, or even an SMS, but for that you need a transmitter.
You've just probably doubled the cost of your device.
coprocephalous, Apr 02 2008
  

       If nobody is supposed to be fishing there, wouldn't surface patrols by law enforcement be more effective? The Fish Police are going to have to be fairly near in order to catch the criminals, pretty much making the GPS/transmitter an expensive non-necessity.
Noexit, Apr 02 2008
  

       Once again, someone posts an idea with the category for a title. When I develop my ninja shark method of "Stopping Illegal Fishery", what am I supposed to use for the title? "Stopping Illegal Fishery with GPS Tracking" is available, of course, but that would work better for this idea, don't you think? <Everyone but [mlee743] nods in agreement.>   

       Submarines may have GPS, but they don't use it while submerged. GPS signals are so very weak that they don't go into water. Yes, the receiver would work when it surfaced, but the idea describes something impossible.   

       As has been said, a GPS unit doesn't send out a location signal. It can be attached to a pressure-activated transmitter, yes.   

       Suspending something halfway down from the surface of a body of water pretty much requires a string somewhere, as the thing won't float there. So, make the string a wire, and use it to conduct a signal. Breaking the wire trips the alarm, and no GPS is required.   

       This idea's goal is worthy, the overall concept is good, but the method is poor and the presentation is aggravating. [ ]
baconbrain, Apr 02 2008
  

       //The Fish Police are going to have to be fairly near in order to catch the criminals//
There was a case of this a few years back, where fisheries protection vessels chased a trawler for weeks in the Southern Ocean for taking Patagonian tooth fish.
AbsintheWithoutLeave, Apr 02 2008
  

       // You've just probably doubled the cost of your device. //   

       Cost isn't goint to be that much of an uissue, after all the poor taxpayer will be footing the bill - the big problem will be power consumption and device endurance versus size.
8th of 7, Apr 02 2008
  

       As I said, the GPS receiver won't get signals underwater. So there need not be any power consumption until the device is activated by a pressure switch as it nears the surface.   

       Once at the surface, the device would most likely be in the middle of a netfull of fish, or dropped into a metal hold, neither of which allow GPS signal reception. GPS receivers take a while to get oriented--the opportunity to do so may be missed.   

       Let me explain something most folks don't know about GPS. The signals are so frickin' weak that receivers have to sort them out from the background static. The receiver listens for a pattern of peaks in the noise that statistically matches the expected beat. It is NOT a loud clear signal. Nor is it fast to fasten on to--it's kinda like listening for a particular song in a noisy room.   

       In short, GPS isn't a good idea here. Besides, the device is still going to need a transmitter, which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.   

       Here's how this old Coast Guard Electronics Technician would make a radio fish-pirate finder. Have nothing in the underwater device but a transmitter, activated by a pressure sensor or a motion sensor or anchor alarm. Blast out a radio signal as strong as can be, with maybe an ID code in it. Have all your locating devices on shore or on ship--all you need are two radio-direction finders, which are just loop antennas. Two bearings give a location, in just a few seconds, and help is on the way. [ ]
baconbrain, Apr 02 2008
  

       :/
mlee743, Apr 02 2008
  

       <snort>
baconbrain, Apr 02 2008
  

       //There was a case of this a few years back, where fisheries protection vessels chased a trawler for weeks in the Southern Ocean for taking Patagonian tooth fish//   

       How would a GPS have helped? Or did you mean "looked for" rather than "chased"?
Noexit, Apr 02 2008
  

       That's the nth :/ emoticon I've seen here in the last week. What does it mean?
Texticle, Apr 02 2008
  

       bacon brains Sorry about the bad title, I've just joined HalfBakery so this is a new experience.
mlee743, Apr 02 2008
  

       [-]   

       The threat to fisheries sustainability is not illegal fishing. It is legal fishing. It is not the slightly inebriated fellow in the tatty wooden boat with the ancient Detroit 2-stroke, it is the suits who own the several large steel ships with the identical logos on their hulls. Eliminate the former and you've achieved nothing but a bit of unemployment. Eliminate the latter and you've pretty much solved the problem.   

       No weight of sustenance-plus fishers are going to get anywhere near the impact of current, and perfectly legal, commercial fisheries. Just how badly do you want to eat fish whose natural habitat is on the other side of the planet?   

       The same principle applies to all kinds of things, from cars to bird flu.
Ned_Ludd, Apr 03 2008
  

       //That's the nth :/ emoticon I've seen here in the last week. What does it mean?//   

       I'm not sure what it means in this case, but I think I know what it represents. I think I started it all.   

       There's a recent idea about an electronic undergarment that detects one's emotional "inner state" from delicate detection of the state of one's sexual organs. I didn't think much of it, and wished to express a lack of enthusiasm for the idea.   

       I recalled a rating system I once saw in a dirty magazine, where porno movies were graded by a depiction of a stylized penis in various states of erection or lack thereof.   

       So I made up the symbol :\ and annotated with only that, instead of a [ ]. It's a bit Wun Hung Lo, but that's what I worked with. Jolly funny, yes?   

       I didn't know if anyone would get the idea or the joke. It seems that [mlee743] did, and quite cleverly worked out the opposite, :/ , which looks a bit Picasso, but what can you do?   

       As for what [mlee743] meant by an emoticon that may symbolize an erect penis, I don't know for sure. I hoped it was meant to express great enthusiasm. I've been annotating the hell out of this worthy idea, meaning well, but not sure how I was coming across.   

       I think that's it, anyhow.   

       //on-board tachograph, like the ones that lorry drivers have to try and fiddle?//   

       My grandfather, the Bacon I took my moniker from, patented an early tachograph.
baconbrain, Apr 03 2008
  

       Seems to me that simple sonar / radar might be more effective to protect these no-fish areas.
RayfordSteele, Apr 03 2008
  

       Feasability? EPIRB.
sprogga, Apr 04 2008
  


 

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